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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28260777">How long have you been at 99?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsets12/pseuds/sunsets12'>sunsets12</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Jason Todd's Mental Health [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, DCU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abusive Bruce Wayne, Aftermath of Suicide Attempt, Angst, Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Gaslighting, Gen, Hurt Jason Todd, Hurt/Comfort, I am forcing the whole batfam to go to therapy, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd-centric, Jason todd goes to therapy, Like very minor, Mental Health Issues, Mild Language, Minor Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain, Non-Linear Narrative, Physical Abuse, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Indulgent, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Therapy, Verbal Abuse, Victim Blaming, he's going to try to be better though, like that's a plot point, my therapist oc has some thoughts™ on the batfam, not even Alfred is immune to it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:13:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,016</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28260777</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsets12/pseuds/sunsets12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason Todd's suicide attempt leaves the family reeling in shock.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jason Todd &amp; Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd &amp; Everyone, Tim Drake &amp; Dick Grayson &amp; Jason Todd &amp; Bruce Wayne &amp; Damian Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Jason Todd's Mental Health [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2070240</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>452</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Honestly, with the amount of trauma that canon puts Jason through, without even giving him a good support group (or not killing said support group off), it makes sense that Jason would develop suicidal tendencies. This fic is going to explore that because treating your family member like they're garbage for years does actually have consequences. Believe it or not.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“You’re having trouble processing everything, and that’s okay. That’s why we’re here.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Do you really think this will help?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Jason you’ve been through a lot of traumatizing events. I think you need this, and if you don’t think it’s working well, I’d recommend trying a different therapist rather than dropping therapy altogether.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What, would sending me to a different therapist not put a stain on your record or anything?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“No, it’s normal. Sometimes people just don’t mesh, and if that happens, I would be more than willing to recommend other therapists to you. I want what’s best for you. So how about you tell me what happened?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I don’t know exactly why I did it. It was stupid, just snide comment and a picture. Nothing worse than what I've dealt with before.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“People don’t go from 0 to 100 easily, Jason. Usually whenever people break they were already on the edge for a while.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“So were should I start then?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“How about you tell me about what they said to you and the picture?”</em>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Jason Todd often worried he was unlovable. When he stepped up to take on the Robin mantle, people made sure to tell him he would never be as good as Dick Grayson. They looked down on him. They said he was too aggressive. They brought up his juvie records, and they seemed to take joy in tearing Jason down before he had even had a chance to make a first impression in person.</p>
<p>Dick seemed to view Bruce passing on the Robin’s mantle as Jason’s fault, and he seemed to have shared this belief with his friends causing them to regard him coldly. His stint with the Teen Titans barely lasted a week before he begged Bruce to let him come back to Gotham. The kids at Gotham Academy were almost worse. If the Teen Titans hadn't had a personal factor to their hatred, the Gotham Academy kids would have <em>bee</em><em>n</em> worse. They could smell out his poorness like bloodhounds, and they showed all of the mercy of a rabid animal. He had no allies there, much less friends. Even Bruce, the man who adopted him, would push him aside when he went to him for support. (Jason could still hear the “you’re not my son” comment ringing in the back of his head, even now--years later.)</p>
<p>Sometimes, when he was alone after a tiring patrol, Jason would think that all of these people hating him for reasons he had no control over was a bit too big of a coincidence. He worried he was just making excuses to make himself feel better. He worried that he was the problem. He would see how easily his replacement, Tim, had made friends in the hero community. He would remember how Dick Grayson had been able to make friends at Gotham Academy, and Jason would worry that everyone was right to hate him--that he was some kind of poison. In the dark times, he would worry that he was unlovable.</p>
<p>No one else had any problems—it was only him. Still, Bruce didn’t seem to show much love to any of his “siblings” either, and Jason gripped that like a lifeline. He didn’t know what he would do if Bruce treated the other Robins like his kids when he wouldn’t even trust Jason as far as he could throw him.</p>
<p>(Jason got his answer about what he would do if this were to happen, and looking back on it, it was only a matter of time.)</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“The manor, you know, it’s old, and Bruce likes to keep these old traditions alive. Probably something to do with helping his parents’ memories live on, or maybe it's just Alfred's influence… Anyway, there’s a bunch of old family portrait’s that are like actually painted. Like you have to make an appointment with a painter and everything. I was visiting the house—well I was visiting the cave, but Alfred invited me upstairs for tea. I can never say no to Alfred, so I went upstairs with him, and…”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Take your time, Jason. Your comfort comes first.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I need to get it off my chest, but I just need a minute first.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“That’s ok. Crying is a natural response. I often find that after I cry, I feel better.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Yeah, ok, well… On the mantel of the main living room, right by the painting of Bruce and his parents, was a new painting. It had everyone in it, Steph, Babs, Dick, Damian, Tim, Cass, Duke, Bruce, hell even Alfred was in it. But I wasn’t. I wasn’t even in the family portrait! How could they not have at least invited me? Hell, Babs doesn’t even consider herself to be part of the family! I—I just felt so lost. More than anything I just want to be loved, and my own family practically disowned me—if they even thought of me as family at all. It’s just not fair.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I could feel my world shattering around me, but I made some slide comment about not getting my invitation for the sitting or whatever, and then the demon brat just asks, ‘why would you get an invite?’… I don’t even think he asked to be mean. He was probably just confused about why I still considered them family when none of them thought the same.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I think Mr. Todd… that you’ve been hurt a lot and that you’ve been surrounded by toxic people--whether they mean to be or not.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Yeah, you have your work cut out for you, don’t you Doc? And you haven’t even heard the half of it.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I think the first order of business is to stop talking with such a self-deprecating tone. You'd be amazed how much that changes your view of yourself."</em>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>As Jason roared his motorcycle and left the cave, he couldn’t get what Damian had said out of his head. “Why would you get an invite?” Like the little shit was curious about why Jason thought he deserved an invite to the family portrait sitting.</p>
<p>And Jason did deserve an invite. He did. He did. He did. <strike>He didn’t</strike>. He had sacrificed so much for this family. He hadn’t killed in two years, and he had tried so hard to be part of the family again. Evidently it wasn’t enough.</p>
<p>It never was enough with him, it seemed. It was only ever enough when he was dead. They loved him then. There was no possibility of him ever making another mistake when he was dead, so they idolized him then. (His mind still reminded him, though, that even then he hadn’t been remembered as a son. Just a <em>good soldier</em>.)</p>
<p>He should've got the hint when Bruce put a batarang in his neck. He should've got the hint when Dick threw him in Arkham. He should've got the hint when Bruce took him back to the place he had died in order to help <strike>his real son</strike> the demon brat. He should've got the hint when Bruce beat him to a bloody pulp for shooting penguin with a blank.</p>
<p>His stomach was churning, and his hands were shaking so badly that he almost ran straight into a wall. He knew he wasn’t thinking straight. Knew he was probably having some kind of mental breakdown right now, but he was so tired.</p>
<p>He just wanted his family to love him. He wanted all this rejection to stop. Wasn’t he good enough? <strike>Why wasn’t he good enough? </strike>He stopped killing, and there were other members of the batfamily that had a violent past. It wasn’t just him. They seemed to be accepted—to be loved.</p>
<p>
  <strike>They had loved him when he was dead.</strike>
</p>
<p>They had loved him when he was dead.</p>
<p>
  <em>They had loved him when he was dead.</em>
</p>
<p>The solution was so obvious, and as he lowered himself into the bathtub, he felt relieved. It was all going to be over soon, and maybe, just maybe, his family would love him again.</p>
<p>
  <strike>Maybe he would get a spot next to the family in the cemetery like he had when he was fifteen. </strike>
</p>
<p>He could feel the cold knife breaking the fragile skin over his wrist, and he could feel the warmth from the blood that flowed in heavy streams down his hands into the bathwater. He closed his eyes.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So I am portraying therapy sessions in this story, and I want to let you all know that while I try to be as accurate as possible, these therapy sessions are not 100% accurate. </p>
<p>Also I am really bad at responding to comments, but I'm trying to get better! I read them all and truly appreciated them though!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>            Jason actually has a lot of holes in his memory, and no, the times that his head gets hit so hard he can’t remember exactly what happened don’t count. Most of the holes in his memory are from him personally suppressing things so much that he now can’t remember what happened at all. When he tells his therapist it, she explains that it’s called repression, and that it’s highly debated about whether or not it’s real in the psychology field.</p>
<p>            She doesn’t linger on it for very long though, probably because she doesn’t want him to feel like he’s a lab rat. She’s good at that, Jason is starting to realize. Maybe all therapists are, after all if they’re a therapist they have to be more attuned to emotions than your average Joe, right? She instead starts to ask him if he can remember any specific instances surrounding the repression.</p>
<p>            He recalls when he confronted Batman about killing the Joker. He still remembers what his plan was, but he doesn’t actually remember what happened outside of the scar on his neck and a dream a week later that told him exactly who was responsible for nearly killing him. (He doesn’t remember that he had to pull himself out of the rubble, bleeding profusely from his neck, and really, that’s for the best.) Sometimes Jason thinks that his mind knows he won’t ever let go and move on from the memories that hurt him, so his mind took it upon itself to get rid of the memories. Then he remembers that this is the same mind that told him it was a good idea to slit his wrists, and then he doesn’t know what to think.</p>
<p>            He thinks he trusts his therapist more than anyone else, which is kind of sad considering he has to pay her to talk to him (and he can practically hear her saying that that isn’t how he should be thinking of the situation, but it’s the truth. Isn’t it?)</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p>           </p>
<p>
  <em>            “What were you thinking, when you attempted suicide?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “…You remember how I told you that I had died before? And how they thought I was dead for years?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Yes”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Yeah, well, when I was trying to kill myself, I kept thinking about how they loved me when I was six feet under. It’s like how you should respect the dead. I was just this kid who had died for their cause, so they made me to be an example of what not to do, which hurt. But they also made me a martyr. They remembered me in a pretty positive way, but now they hate me. I wanted to get that appreciation and love back.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Why do you think they hate you? They’ve been trying awful hard to be able to visit you here.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “That’s because they’re gluttons for guilt.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “You think they feel guilty about your suicide attempt?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Yeah.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Do you think they should feel guilty for it?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Yeah… is that selfish?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “I think it’s a perfectly valid point of view when they’ve been purposefully painting you out to be something you’re not to the whole superhero community—the community that you’re part of. Do you realize that you should have been able to rely on that community? You told me how your childhood taught you not to rely on anyone, but the superhero community should have reached out to you to offer support… I think it’s the least they could do when you’re putting your life on the line... I'm sorry, we shouldn’t be talking about my personal feelings on the matter.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “You’re feelings make more sense than mine though.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Mr. Todd…”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “You can call me Jason, Doc. You’ve heard my whole tragic backstory. I think we’re to that point.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Jason, then. I hope you know that I’m in your corner. What they did to you was wrong… To circle back to something we briefly touched on before though, they’re still trying to get visitation rights to see you at rehab. Do you want me to allow them to visit you?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Have you talked to them one-on-one?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “No, I haven’t.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Then no, they need therapy just as bad as I do, even if none of them have slit their wrists before. You said you’re in my corner? Then make sure they understand that what they did was wrong and that they actually are sorry and are ready to try to change. Then I’ll consider letting them talk to me.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Okay, I’ll let them know. I'm glad to see you sticking up for yourself. How has your medicine been affecting you?”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>            Tim was exhausted. He had been trying to talk Bruce out of bringing lawyers down on the mental health facility that Jason was staying at. A week after Jason woke up, he told the doctors that he didn’t want to allow any of his family to visit him, and apparently Jason’s personal therapist had backed the idea up, which meant they couldn't visit him. He still was accepting Bruce’s money though. Staying at a mental health facility for an extended period of time was expensive after all. It was kind of weird to think that Jason both had and talked to a therapist regularly. He knew why it was required, and he knew it was a good thing. Still, everyone in the batfamily had just accepted that their mental health would just be trash. To go to therapy seemed, to some extent, like a weakness, and everyone knows they can’t have any of those.</p>
<p>            He heard Bruce’s phone ringing—his civilian phone, and he brought his head out of his hands just as Bruce answered it. Dick stepped up behind Bruce to ask who it was, and when Bruce mouthed that it was the mental health facility Jason was staying at, Dick motioned for him to put it on speaker phone. For a long moment, Tim didn’t think Bruce would comply, but Bruce must’ve decided it wasn’t worth the fight and complied.</p>
<p>            “Is this Bruce Wayne speaking?” a voice asked that Tim recognized as Jason’s therapist.</p>
<p>            “Yes, this is him.”</p>
<p>            “Hello, Mr. Wayne, my name is Dr. Johnson, and I’m calling as a representative of Jason Todd. He’s willing to allow you and your children to visit him under the circumstance that you attend a therapy session with me, and I give the all clear.”</p>
<p>            Tim could see Bruce trying to pull in his anger, and he was sure Dr. Johnson heard his annoyed grunt before he asked, “He’s requiring us to attend therapy before we can see him? Why?” Bruce demanded, barely managing to keep Batman from his tone.</p>
<p>            “He’s worried that you all have quite destructive coping mechanisms, and he doesn’t want any of your misplaced anger or guilt to be taken out on him. Don’t worry, I can’t force you to attend therapy.”</p>
<p>            “But if we don’t attend therapy, then we can’t visit him?”</p>
<p>            “That’s correct.” Dr. Johnson replied, and Tim had to give her credit, she didn’t even seem mildly frightened by how angry Bruce was getting.</p>
<p>            “Then you are forcing us to attend therapy!”</p>
<p>            “I assure you; I am doing no such thing. I merely agreed that Jason’s fears of talking to you had valid reasoning given your history. A simple therapy session would do well to assure me otherwise.” Bruce’s jaw looked like it was clinched so tight that Tim worried he might break a tooth. Before Bruce could reply, Alfred snatched his phone from him.</p>
<p>            “Hello, Dr. Johnson. This is Alfred Pennyworth, I’m Jason’s grandfather. If I was personally willing to attend a therapy session, would I be able to visit him?”</p>
<p>            “Yes, but only you would be able to visit him in that situation. Jason was quite clear about what he wanted.”</p>
<p>            “Then I’ll do it,” Alfred responded without missing a beat. “When would you be available for the therapy session?”</p>
<p>            There was a pause on the other end of the line before she replied, “You can meet me during my lunch hour at noon today.” After Alfred replied that he could in fact meet then, Dr. Johnson promptly hung up, and Bruce exploded.</p>
<p>            “How dare she try to keep us away from Jason!” He started pacing the room, and the rest of the family was simply left staring at him, “And trying to force us to attend therapy is not a good sign. Jason doesn’t know what he’s saying—he’s vulnerable right now, and she’s trying to manipulate him to get to us. I don’t know what she wants, but I’ll figure it out. Tim!” Even though Tim’s eyes had never left Bruce’s form, he still felt himself snap to attention at his name. “Find out everything about her! She’s got some ulterior motive, and I won’t rest until I figure it out.” With that said he stormed out of the room, probably to go sulk in the cave.</p>
<p>            “Well, if any of the rest of you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen until it’s time to go to my therapy session, and although Master Bruce seems rather against it, I have attempted to steer many of you all, Bruce included, towards therapy before. It isn’t the demon you think it is, and refusing to go out of some misplaced sense of denial or pride isn’t going to help Master Jason at all.”</p>
<p>            They were left sitting there as they had been ever since Dick found Jason covered in his own blood. No one said anything. They weren’t sure what to say.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>           <em> “I will say, I’m rather relieved that someone among you all cared enough to attend one singular therapy session in order to see Jason. I hope you don’t mind. I am giving up my lunch break for this, so I brought food.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>            “Don’t worry, I won’t take offense to you eating. I can imagine that Master Bruce’s refusal to attend therapy this morning did not paint him in a very good light, so I wanted to tell you that he’s always been averse to therapy.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Did he ever actually attend therapy, to your knowledge?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Yes, I made him attend after his parents were killed.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “How many sessions?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Just the one. He refused to talk, and I knew he would be stubborn enough to keep it up if I kept trying.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “That behavior is pretty common amongst kids who think that attending therapy means there’s something wrong with them. It's a form a denial, and it’s pretty harmful, especially when the child does need therapy, like I’m willing to bet Mr. Wayne did. Regardless, we’re not here to talk about him. We’re here to talk about you. So, everything that you say in here is confidential, unless you say something that makes me think you are an immediate harm to yourself or to others. Do you understand? How did you feel when you realized that you had custody and parental rights over Bruce Wayne? It must’ve been a shock—to become a father overnight.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “It certainly was a shock. I knew that they had written that in their will, but I had never thought the two of them would actually die and leave Bruce to me. I had always seen Bruce as a sort of nephew, if you will. I had never had to be a paternal figure before. It was a lot of responsibility, and I had to navigate it while also navigating my grief over Thomas and Martha Wayne’s deaths.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Do you regret anything about how you raised him? Would you do anything different if you had a second chance?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Yes, I think I would have been more forceful in making him attend therapy sessions, but even then, I think he has grown into a wonderful man.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “I had to ask Jason before this therapy session about what he would be comfortable with me mentioning to you. One of the things he allowed me to talk about was parental abuse. There is no nice way to ask this, so I’ll be blunt. Were you aware that your charge, Bruce Wayne, was being both physically and verbally abusive to Jason both while he was legally a child and as an adult?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>             “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean. They’ve had their fights, but they’re nothing more than any parent would argue with their child.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Jason felt it necessary for his therapy to be successful to disclose his own identity as the Red Hood to me as well as many of your family’s identities, and he also told me that you knew as well. I’ll admit that my earlier question of if you were aware of the abuse was a bit of a trick question. You have to be. Everyone in Gotham saw Batman beat the Red Hood to near death months ago. Jason has also told me of multiple instances where Bruce would punch not only him but his other children as well. So, I’ll rephrase, are you aware that beating your child is abuse? Are you aware that allowing a child to fight crime on a nightly basis is child endangerment?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “I think the situation is a bit more complicated than you’re making it out to be.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “Perhaps, I am after all very aware of my own emotions. I am also aware of the fact that the Red Hood saved a lot of people, and I am also aware that there is an adult under my care who never had the chance to be a child because Bruce Wayne took him under his wings. Do you understand that?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “I do.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>            “I’ll ask you again, is there anything you regret about how you raised Bruce Wayne to think being abusive of his children was in anyway acceptable, whether they are now adults or not? Do you regret not stepping in to stop it?”</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So I've only read one fic before that called Alfred out on his bad choices, which is why this chapter focuses on him. I'm sorry, I know a lot of people in the fandom like to portray him as like the best person ever, but he really made some poor parenting choices when raising Bruce. And he never really calls Bruce out on his abusive behavior. Like, so many people in the fandom are like, "Alfred is the only person Bruce listens to," and if you want to play it like that then maybe Alfred should tell Bruce to stop abusing his children. I enjoy Alfred myself, but part of this fic is calling out all of the terrible behavior of these characters, and Alfred definitely isn't immune to it. </p>
<p>Also as I mentioned in the author's note at the beginning, Alfred's therapy session is not very accurate lol. Therapists in real life do not get angry at their patients (at least good therapists don't lol). I made an exception because Dr. Johnson watched this abuse happen from afar and now she's faced with the consequences, so she's angry that no one, herself included, stepped up to defend Red Hood or any of the other Robins. I'm mainly saying this because I don't want any of you to think that therapy is bad. The Batman canon already provides us with enough "therapy is bad and ineffective" propaganda anyway (which is one of the things that really annoys me, but I'm not going to go on a rant in the author's note).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fair Warning, I have no idea how CPS works. I'm also not super familiar with Cassandra's character, so if she's ooc I'm super sorry. This is also not edited.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Well, Mr. Pennyworth, I think I just have one last question for you. Mr. Todd has briefly touched on the some of the trauma that certain members of your family have faced, and I’ve been meaning to ask, how Damian has adjusted since he came to live with Mr. Wayne?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“He’s…he hasn’t adjusted very well to be honest.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“And has he ever gone to therapy? Or received professional help of any sort?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“No, he hasn’t, and I doubt he would ever consider it.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Does the ‘he’ in your statement refer to Damian Wayne or Bruce Wayne?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“It-it extends to both of them I suppose.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Well, I don’t have to time to take on another full-time patient. I’m up to my gills in work just vetting you all for visiting Mr. Todd, but I think it’s about time that he sees someone. A child should not be left alone to work through such trauma.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“And if Damian says no?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I’m always hesitant to recommend forced therapy, but in this case I think it’s the best option. When do you want to visit Mr. Todd?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“As soon as I can.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Okay, I promised him I would give him a warning before allowing any visitors. I have an appointment with him tonight. As long as he gives the go ahead, you—and you alone—can see him in the morning. Have a good day, Mr. Pennyworth.”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“How has your day been, Jason.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Incredibly boring, doc. Yours?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I’d say it was pretty eventful. I talked with your grandfather today during lunch.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Grandfather?... Do you mean Alfred Pennyworth?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Yes, that was how he introduced himself. Is he not your grandfather?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Nah, he’s actually Bruce’s butler, but I guess he’s a pretty grandfather-ish figure.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Are you close with him?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I mean, I was before I died, but he always took Bruce’s side… and you know how much Bruce hated me after I was raised from the dead.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Do you forgive Mr. Pennyworth for that?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I mean, I guess. Do you think I should have?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“My opinion doesn’t mean much when it comes to who you should forgive, Jason. I just want you to be smart about it.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Care to phrase that in a way that doesn’t absolutely reek of ‘I’m not trying to tell you what to do’?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I tend to find that the best method in life is to forgive, but don’t forget. Move on in a way that only forgiveness allows, but don’t forget the transgressions that people—especially those who claim to be your family—have done to you. Remember them so that you don’t misplace your trust in the same person twice.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Hmm, I’ll keep that in mind… Hey doc, I know this is a sudden subject change, but I’ve been meaning to bring this up with you for awhile. I love Damian. I met him before anyone else in the family—in the League of Assassins, you know?... His mom’s kind of crazy, and by kind of crazy I mean she tried and succeeded to kill her son. She made a clone of Damian, named it Heretic, and sent it to kill him. Heretic succeeded, and it was a really bad time for everyone in the family… I would have done anything to bring Damian back. He didn’t deserve to die so young, and I could relate to him in a way a lot of the others couldn’t… So Bruce called me and said he was trying to find some of the people involved in Damian’s death, and he asked for my help.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Of course, I offered my help. One of the most important things for me when I was resurrected was that my murderer wasn’t properly brought to justice. I was gonna make sure Damian’s were… but Bruce lied to me. He-he brought me… he brought…”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Take deep breaths Jason. Breath in…1,2,3,4, and now out…1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Good, do it again… and again… Better?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Yeah… he brought me to Ethiopia—to the place that I had died, and I-I couldn’t…I couldn’t even believe it at first. I mean, how could he? And then when I called him out on it, he started telling me that if I really cared about Damian, I would have come here willingly. I started freaking out, you know? He was still spewing a bunch of bullshit, and I hated him so much… I still hate him for it.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Do you want some water?... Jason, early on, I taught you how to recognize different types of abuse and manipulation. Do you think this qualifies as manipulation?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I mean… yeah? But he had good intentions…”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What type of manipulation was it, Jason?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“…I don’t know. I don’t remember them all.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What he did to you is called gaslighting. He lied to you and manipulated you into going to the place you died in, Jason. He was purposely trying to trigger your trauma for his own gain, and when you called him out on it, he tried to frame you as the bad guy. That’s gaslighting, and I want you to be able to recognize it to protect yourself in the future.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“He was in the wrong? Even though he was just worried about Damian?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Yes, Jason. I don’t think I can stress enough just how wrong his actions were.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“…Earlier, when we were talking about forgiveness… Do you think I should forgive Bruce?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Honestly?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Yeah.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I would never talk to him again and get so far out of dodge he could never even think to reach out to me. I have my own toxic past, and I don’t let anyone hurt me that much and stay in my life anymore. Believe me, I have cut people out of my life for less.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Thanks, doc.”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hello, I’m Jeffree Fishcher. I’m a social worker from Child Protective Services. I’d like to talk with some of the members of the family—if that’s alright.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Jeffree Fishcher logically knew that people in the 1% lived quite extravagantly, but it was nothing like seeing it in person. Wayne Manor was a site to behold, which was a rather good thing since he had to travel all the way from Star City here. Apparently, Dinah Lance was affiliated with the Justice League, and she trusted him to act as the social worker for a family of superheroes. Who were apparently the Bats…and the Waynes. It kind of sucked to learn that Batman—his favorite hero in his childhood—was possibly an abusive father, but he had dedicated his life to helping abused children. He wasn’t going to <em>not</em> investigate claims of abuse just because Batman was involved.</p>
<p>He was ashamed to admit that he almost left after being stared down at for a bit too long by Bruce Wayne. But, hey, that guy was massive, and Jeff was a pretty scrawny guy who had been regularly picked on throughout his school years. Regardless, he managed to not back out long enough for Batman—or Mr. Wayne—to talk to him.</p>
<p>“What do you want? Who sent you here?”</p>
<p>“CPS has received enough information that we felt it necessary to conduct an investigation regarding Damian Wayne’s safety under your care. I normally work exclusively in Star City, but Dinah Lance felt strongly that I should be the agent conducting this investigation. She informed me of the importance secrecy plays in this investigation as well as your ties to the Justice League. Rest assured Mr. Wayne, everything that happens here will remain a secret, and no one will suspect a random Star City citizen to know the identities of the infamous Batfamily.”</p>
<p> Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say as Mr. Wayne immediately lunged at him. As the various other members of the batfamily pried Mr. Wayne off of him, Jeffree immediately made a mental tick mark against Bruce Wayne. Unprovoked attack marks an individual as violent after all, and violent tendencies often make someone abusive.</p>
<p>“I have to admit, Mr. Wayne, this didn’t start well for you. I’d like to talk to each of you individually starting with Damian.” This only seemed to make Batman more upset, but luckily, the rest of the family seemed to realize how dire this situation was for them. The Butler—he had introduced himself as Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffree remembered—took Damian Wayne off to the side to talk to him, and it wasn’t long before Jeffree sat facing him one-on-one in the dining room.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, Damian, how are you doing?”</p>
<p>“I’m fine.” Damian huffed, and Jeffree could tell that the kid didn’t want to be here. He was trying to stare him down, and honestly, Jeffree had to admire the kid’s glare. It was almost as scary as Batman’s.</p>
<p>“Ok, that’s good, I suppose. Could you tell me a little bit about your day-to-day life? What does your typical schedule look like?”</p>
<p>“I eat breakfast. I go to school. I come home. I do homework. I go on patrol. I go to bed.” Wow, Damian really wasn’t going to give him anything to work with, was he?</p>
<p>“How is your relationship with your family? Do you get in fights with them a lot?”</p>
<p>“We get along fine, not that it’s any of your business.”</p>
<p>“So, you never get in arguments with each other?” At this question, the kid seemed to hesitate, and Jeffree grabbed hold of the opening. “Do they ever get physical with you?”</p>
<p>“Not outside of sparring,” Jeffree could see something off in Damian’s body stance though. His posture was perfect, but he was radiating the aura of a child who had something to say but wasn’t sure if they should say it.</p>
<p>“Outside of sparring, does your father ever get in physical fights with any of your siblings?” For a split second, the kid looked pained, and Jeffree knew what the answer was. But he had to hear him say it. “I’m here to help you. It’s really important that you tell me if either you or your siblings are being hurt by your father.”</p>
<p>“You’re not here to help. You’re here to tear us apart. We’re barely surviving Todd’s attempted suicide, and CPS getting involved is only going to hurt us worse.” Jeffree had been debriefed about the Red Hood’s attempted suicide but seeing the way Damian’s face feel when talking about it hurt. He never liked to see a child in pain, and he had to crush the urge to hug him.</p>
<p>“How have you been handling your brother’s suicide attempt? Are you seeing anyone to talk about it?”</p>
<p>The kid straightened up his spine from where he had curled over when talking about his brother, but he dropped his shoulder’s again after a brief glance at Jeffree’s concerned face. “I don’t need to talk to anyone about it. I’m not weak.”</p>
<p>“There’s nothing weak about talking about your feelings. It can really help.”</p>
<p>“And who am I supposed to talk about my feelings with? You?” he snorted.</p>
<p>“If you want, you can talk to me about it, and there are always therapists. They know what they’re doing, and I think it would be really beneficial to talk to one.”</p>
<p>The kid was starting to look hopeful. Well, as hopeful as he could look. “You think so?”</p>
<p>“I know so.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The conversation with Damian ended not long after that, and Jeffree called in the next person he wanted to interview—Cassandra Cain. She prefers to use sign language to communicate, which was apparently another reason why Dinah Lance had recommended him; he was fluent.</p>
<p>“You don’t usually live at the Manor with Mr. Wayne, correct?”</p>
<p>
  <em>Correct, I share an apartment with Stephanie Brown.</em>
</p>
<p>“Ok. As I mentioned earlier, there have been some allegations of abuse against Mr. Wayne. I have reason to believe that he has been physically abusive to some of his children. Damian said that Mr. Wayne has never hit him, but he hesitated to say the same about the rest of you. Has Mr. Wayne ever physically hurt you outside of sparring?”</p>
<p>
  <em>No, never.</em>
</p>
<p>“Has he ever physically hurt any of your siblings outside of sparring?”</p>
<p>At this question, Jeffree could see the same flash of pain on Cassandra’ face that he saw on Damian’s face earlier. Before she signed her answer, Jeffree already knew what it would be. <em>Yes.</em></p>
<p>“When? How?”</p>
<p>
  <em>Sometimes when people say things that he doesn’t like he’ll punch them. He doesn’t mean to though; he always regrets it afterwards. I can see it in his body language.</em>
</p>
<p>“Who has he punched?”</p>
<p>A pause, and then—<em>Dick, Jason, Tim.</em></p>
<p>Jesus Christ, three of them? He had thought originally that he was just hurting Jason—not that that is in anyway acceptable, but it often happens. The scapegoat child scenario—where the entire family is dysfunctional, but instead of acknowledging that everyone takes their aggression and hatred out on one child. This apparently wasn’t the case. He said a quick prayer of thanks that at least Damian and Cassandra weren’t hit (yet), and they wouldn’t be under his watch. Dick, Jason, and Tim were old enough that it was their choice if they decided to stay with their <strike>father</strike> abuser, but he could protect the minors.</p>
<p>Jeffree was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost didn’t notice Cassandra keep signing. <em>He doesn’t mean to though. He always regrets it afterwards. He loves us. I can see it in his body language.</em></p>
<p>“Regretting it doesn’t solve anything. Especially when he keeps hitting them.” He stood up from the table, unable to bear looking at Cassandra’s downtrodden expression. “I can’t in good conscience leave a twelve-year-old under his care. You’re seventeen, correct? And Stephanie Brown is eighteen?” She nodded, “Ok, stay with her until you hear back from me. I need to figure out where Damian will be staying.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I feel like I kind of made Damian out of character, but honestly, I think it reasonable to assume that his brother's suicide attempt would put him in a pretty vulnerable state. Also the idea of a family having a scapegoat who they are all abusive too is an actual thing. Typically parents will push all of the blame onto one of their children, and the children, who learn from their parents, will follow along in continuing to blame that one person (at least that's how I understand it, but I'm not a psychologist). I think there is an argument to be made that Jason's abuse is like this. However, like I mentioned before, Bruce abuses all of his children (even if he's only physically abusive to Dick, Jason, and occasionally Tim). </p>
<p>Anyway my original plan for this story was redeeming Bruce and having them be one big happy family, but this story kind of got away from me. To be completely honest, at this point I don't know if I can realistically redeem Bruce. Do you guys want me to redeem him and have them be a family or not? The options are Bruce gets his act together, but the family doesn't forgive him. In this one, the rest of the family would heal together and love each other. The other choice is to have the family forgive Bruce and have them all be happy together. Which one do you guys want to see?</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please comment!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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